Who's That Chick?
by claraowl
Summary: It's the last day of school before break for Amu and her friends. That night, the girls decide to go out dancing at a teen club. What happens when the plans are overheard? Amuto, Rimahiko, Kutau, and Yairi!
1. Dance!

**Claraowl: Hello and welcome to my 2****nd **_**Shugo Chara! **_**fan fiction!**

**Ikuto: You again?**

**Amu: I'm not going to have to give him any more s'mores, will I?**

**Ikuto: Come on, Amu, I'd like s'more s'mores….**

**Amu: *blushes***

**Claraowl: *groans at attempt at pun* Anyway, this is a little something I'm doing for a friend as a welcome to this site and is a random songfic. This takes place while Amu's in her third year of high school. Utau is going to an in-town college. **

**Ikuto: What about me?**

**Claraowl: You'll see. Oh, and I chose this song due to the fact that it's been stuck in my head since my dance recital yesterday. **

**Ikuto: Let me guess… we have to dance?**

**Claraowl: Wait and see! Amu, disclaimer, please!**

**Amu: Claraowl owns neither **_**Shugo Chara! **_**or Rihanna's "Who's That Chick"**

**Claraowl: On with the show! Break a leg, everyone! Italics are lyrics! **

Amu was out walking in the park after school one day with her charas. It had been the last day of school before summer vacation and they were all excited for the coming summer. The charas were bouncing around Amu's head, suggesting things for them to do when she got together with Rima, Yaya, and Utau later that night.

"You could all play Truth or Dare ~desu!" suggested Su.

"Or prank-call some guys," murmured Miki.

"Or do makeovers and runways, with lots of shiny jewelry," Dia smiled.

"I know," said Amu, thinking, "but we've done all of that so many times before! We should do something new - but what?"

Ran, who had kept oddly quiet until then, piped up, "Why don't you all go out dancing at a teen club? It'll be a good stress release and a way to burn off all that excess energy!"

"Yes," agreed Dia, "plus there'll be a lot of music!"

"Dance is a great art form," nodded Miki.

"There'll probably be interesting food there ~desu," added Su.

"Okay, okay," conceded Amu, "you've got me convinced. Now, I just need to okay it with the others!" After gaining permission from her mother (and hearing her father's call of "No boys!") she pulled out her phone, sat under a nearby tree, and dialed Utau's number.

"Yup," said Utau, answering at the fifth ring.

"Hey, Utau," said Amu, "Ran came up with a brilliant plan! Instead of us all doing the stuff we've done so many times on girls' nights, why don't we go out to a teen dance club? We can all still meet at my house before we go."

"Hey, that's actually a pretty decent plan. I know a good one. Okay it with the others, won't you? I've got to go. Bye." In the background, another voice was heard, shouting something.

"Bye," Amu said. She then dialed Rima's number.

"Hello?" Rima's slightly annoyed voice answered at the third ring. She listened while Amu explained Ran's idea. "Sounds alright, I guess. Better than prank-calling a bunch of guys. See you then."

"Bye," said Amu for the second time. She then dialed Yaya's number.

"Hi! This is Yaya!" Yaya half-screamed into the phone after half a ring, sounding slightly out of breath. After hearing a brief explanation of the plan, she squealed, "That sounds like so much fun, Amu-chi! I'll see you then! Bye!"

"Bye," Amu said for the third time, wondering why all of her friends were so anxious to get off the phone. Shrugging this odd occurrence off, she stood up and hurried home to get ready.

Back in her room, after talking with her family and playing with Ami a bit, she turned to Miki. The tiny blue chara nodded at her, to show that she had an idea. She held up a sketchpad.

"Looks great, Miki," chorused the other three charas and Amu.

"Draw, drew, drawn!"

"Thanks, Miki!" exclaimed Amu. She now wore a pair of black leggings and a loose blood-red knee-length dress, bound by a thick black belt at her waist. Her feet bore a pair of black jazz shoes and her hair was held back by six red x-clips.

"Amu, your friends are here!"

"Coming!" Amu called down. After calling to her charas to have fun with the others at the party, she trundled down the stairs, energy coursing through her body. "Ready?" she asked her friends. "Then let's go! Bye, Mama, Papa, Ami! I'll see you all later!"

As the walked along the street, Yaya asked, "So where exactly is this place?"

"It's about four blocks away, in the main part of town," Utau replied. She then warned them, "This isn't just a place for girls, though - guys can go there, too. You all might want to be on your guard."

A few minutes and many odd conversations later, Rima asked, "Is this it?"

"Yes," said Utau. "Is everyone ready?"

"Let's go!" Yaya shouted, heading in. The rest followed.

The four girls were hit with sound and flashing lights the moment they stepped into the club. While the others were momentarily stunned by all the noise and lights, Utau seemed quite used to it. She walked over to the counter and came back with four glasses of soda. The others recovered and chorused their thanks, watching the people on the dance floor and chatting.

"So how are things going with Kukai, Utau-chi?" Yaya asked, already fully caffeinated.

"I keep telling you, it's just ramen!" Utau exclaimed, blushing violently.

"Then why are you blushing?" Rima asked.

"I - I… wait, what about you and Nagihiko? What's going on there?"

"Absolutely nothing," said Rima, a light pink dusting her cheeks. "Nothing will ever happen between that cross-dresser and me."

"Of course nothing will happen with Nagi, Rima," Amu teased, "because it's already happening! I saw you two together the other day, eating crepes."

"He lost a bet and owed me a crepe," insisted Rima stubbornly.

"But Rima-tan," giggled Yaya, "Yaya was with Amu-chi, and saw you wipe some cream off his face!"

Rima, in a wild attempt to change the topic of discussion, asked, "What about you and Kairi? I noticed that he walked you home the other day."

"Yaya likes Kairi-kun!" Yaya announced, "However, he keeps calling Yaya 'Yaya-sempai'! Yaya wishes he would just call her 'Yaya.'"

"I'm sure he'll get the hang of it eventually, Yaya," soothed Amu. "He's stopped calling you 'Ace,' hasn't he?"

"That's true!" Yaya smiled. Suddenly, she switched topics, "What about Ikuto-kun and you, Amu-chi? Has he visited your balcony recently?"

Amu blushed and decided not to answer, taking a sip of her soda.

Suddenly, the DJ announced a new song. Amu's eyes lit up at the name; this was the perfect song for tonight, along with being one of her favorites! It was fast-paced and had a good beat, so it was be a great stress release. "I'm hitting the dance floor!" she announced to her friends as she put down her glass and stepped onto the floor.

_Feel the adrenaline moving under my skin_

Finding an empty piece of floor, she began moving to the beat. She ran her hands over her arms, making shimmying motions with her body.

_It's an addiction, such an eruption_

Amu saw her friends step onto the floor after her, splitting up so that they could each have room to dance. Spinning on the spot, she could already feel the music entering her veins, taking over her body.

_Sound is my remedy, feeding me energy_

She let the music take over; it engulfed her, chasing all thoughts from her head. The noise and the lights that had stunned her when she entered the dance club were now one with her, becoming part of the dance.

_Music is all I need_

Spinning again, she bumped into a stranger. He caught her hand to keep her from falling and was drawn into her dance. She could not see his face; he was silhouetted in the lights. He spun her once; he then decided that it would be best just to attempt to follow her movements.

_Baby, I just wanna dance_

She grabbed his other hand and held them both above her head, then shimmied her body again. She released his hands and took a few steps back from him, blushing slightly, having realized herself. The music took over once more a moment later, but not before she noticed that the stranger seemed oddly familiar….

_I don't really care,_

Rima, too, was dancing, though much less enthusiastically. Dancing had never really been her thing, especially after middle school. Now, whenever she thought of dancing, it reminded her of 'the cross-dresser.'

"Ow!" exclaimed someone; she had not been paying attention and had bumped into someone.

"Sorry," she said coldly, turning to see who she had bumped into. "Oh," she blinked, "hello, cross-dresser. Why are you here?"

_I just wanna dance_

"Well," said Nagihiko teasingly, "this is a teen dance place. I'm a teenager and I like to dance, so I'm here. Also, it is now break. In addition," he added, "I heard you talking to Amu earlier while I was walking with you. I decided that it sounded like fun, so I gathered some people and went to one. It's not my fault that we wound up at the same one." He smiled, then added, "Just a happy accident, Rima-chan."

_I don't really care, care, care_

Rima glared at him. "It's not very happy at all. Also, do not call me that."

Nagihiko shrugged. "Whatever you say, Rima-chan. But as long as we're here, let's dance."

Rima nodded almost undetectably. "I'm going to step on your toes."

Nagihiko just laughed.

_(Feel it in air, yeah)_

Rima glared at him again. "Why are you laughing? Nothing's funny."

"You are!" Nagihiko answered, laughing harder, "You're always acting like you're mad at me, but you came to visit me when I was sick and made me soup."

Rima just stated, "You're going to have to teach me how to dance."

"It'll be my pleasure, Rima-chan."

_She's a mean and crazy dicta, _

"Don't call me that!"

"Fine, _Rima_."

"Oh, shut up and show me what to do, Nagi!"

"Oh, so I'm Nagi, now?"

"Argh! Infuriating cross-dresser!"

_disco diva and you wonder_

Yaya was enjoying herself immensely, dancing with anyone who was fool enough to come near her. She had eaten one of her stashes of candy earlier in celebration; this, combined with the caffeine from the soda, made her extremely hyper and a force to be reckoned with.

The poor guy she was currently dancing with felt a tap on his shoulder. A voice asked, "May I cut in?"

_Who's that chick? Who's that chick?_

Yaya noticed this and squealed, "Kairi-kun! Come dance with Yaya!"

"That was my intention," he stated as she grabbed his hands and started dancing again.

_Too cold for you to keep her,_

"Yaya is wondering why Kairi-kun is so stiff. Has Kairi-kun never danced before?"

"Not in this way, Yaya-sempai."

Yaya pouted, "Why does Kairi-kun never call Yaya by her short, cute name? Call Yaya 'Yaya'!"

_Too hot for you to leave her_

"A-all right, then, Y-Yaya," stuttered Kairi slightly, "will you teach me how to dance?"

"Yaya would be honored to teach Kairi-kun!" Yaya beamed as she began to do so.

_Who's that chick? Who's that chick?_

Utau was dancing off in the middle of the floor, attracting many looks due to her star aura. She felt a tap on her shoulder.

"You look a lot different now than you did earlier at the ramen shop. Who're you out to impress?"

_Back on the dance floor_

"Kukai!" Utau exclaimed, whirling around. "I didn't know you liked to dance."

_Better not to take me home, base kicking so hot_

"Please," Kukai laughed, taking her hand and spinning her, "Nagi wanted to come and insisted that a bunch of us guys came with him. You know I'd rather be kicking around a ball or beating you in a ramen competition."

_Blazing through my beating heart_

"Hey, I won this morning, kid!" Utau protested, grabbing his other hand and yanking him towards her.

_French kissing on the floor, party's getting hardcore_

He grinned, "Two this morning and one now equals three."

"Oops," she smirked, leaning in for her 'punishment.'

_Heard everybody is getting low_

There were gasps from all of the people who had been watching during this exchange; many of them were Utau's fans and were therefore shocked to see the idol kissing someone in the middle of a crowded dance floor.

_A little sexy on the crazy juice_

Utau broke the kiss and stuck her tongue out at Kukai. "I think we've got an audience."

"With a girl like you, it's hard not to."

"Oh, shut up and dance."

_This will end up on the news_

One gaping fan had taken a video and had sent it to a news station. This was going to be a major story… but it didn't matter that night. For that night was a night of dance.

_Baby, I just wanna dance_

"So you somehow convinced a bunch of guys to go out dancing, Nagi?" Rima asked as she was spun under his arm.

"Yeah," he answered. "It wasn't that hard."

_I don't really care,_

"Really?" Rima asked incredulously.

"Yup. All I had to do was convince them that there was a chance of running into you girls."

"Wow," Rima stated, rolling her eyes.

_I just wanna dance_

"So what made you agree to go out dancing? I know it's not one of your favorite things to do."

_I don't really care, care, care_

Rima shrugged. "Like you overheard, no doubt, I figured it was better than prank-calling people."

_(Feel it in air, yeah)_

Raising his eyebrows, Nagihiko asked, "Am I one of those people?"

"So what am I supposed to do with my feet, again?" Rima asked, abruptly changing the subject. Nagihiko took her answer to be affirmative.

_She's a mean and crazy dicta, disco diva and you wonder_

"Stop smiling, Nagi, nothing's funny."

At that, he burst out laughing, causing Rima to become highly annoyed.

Eventually she sighed, "Nagi, let's just go get something to drink. I'm tired."

Still chuckling, Nagihiko allowed himself to be led off of the floor.

_Who's that chick? Who's that chick?_

Many songs later, Yaya had finally gotten Kairi to loosen up slightly. However, the effort had managed to exhaust her. Kairi noticed this.

_Too cold for you to keep her,_

"Yaya-semp - I mean, Yaya, why don't we go get something to drink? You look a little tired."

"Yaya likes that idea, Kairi-kun! Yaya is also happy that Kairi-kun is calling Yaya by her cute, short name!"

_Too hot for you to leave her_

"You're welcome, Yaya," Kairi said as he led her off the floor. They sat down at the counter and ordered two glasses of water.

Yaya gave Kairi a hug. "Thank you for dancing with Yaya, Kairi-kun! It was a lot of fun!"

"Thank you for teaching me. It is the well-rounded samurai that prospers."

"Yaya is very happy!" she exclaimed as their water came and she re-hydrated.

_Who's that chick? Who's that chick?_

"Whew!" Kukai exclaimed after a few solid hours of dancing, "I don't know about you, Utau, but I'm ready for a glass of water or something! How about we get a drink?"

"So you admit defeat?" Utau asked, looking equally worn-out.

"You want to dance more?" he challenged.

"Not particularly. I guess it's a tie," she conceded.

_Ultrasexual, the night has got me love sprung_

"Sounds good to me!" Kukai smiled, slinging an arm around her as they exited the floor.

"Actually…" Utau said, stopping.

"What?"

_I won't stop until the sun is up,_

"I'm good for another half-hour."

_Oh yeah_

"Is that a challenge, Miss Idol?" Kukai asked, grinning.

"Oh, yeah, soccer boy."

_My heart is a dancer beating like a disco drum_

"You're on!"

"On the dance floor, you mean!"

_Oh, oh, uh oh_

Half an hour later, they were both completely exhausted and exited the floor, agreeing to a temporary tie.

_Ultrasexual, the night has got me love sprung_

Amu was slowly regaining her senses from the music's grip. She had been dancing with the same person for several hours and had recently seen all of her friends leave the dance floor.

_I won't stop until the sun is up,_

She was unwilling to leave the dance floor, but she knew that she must head home soon. Maybe one more dance… it really couldn't hurt….

_Oh yeah_

Her companion was still a silhouette; she had not seen his face all night. However, she felt that she might have an idea who he was.

_My heart is a dancer beating like a disco drum_

She danced until the end of the song, then excused herself, saying that she must find her friends and head home. The stranger kissed her hand and let her go. She blushed madly as she left the dance floor, eventually locating all of her friends, who were waiting for her near the door.

_Beating like a disco drum, beating like a disco drum_

Later, when Amu was preparing for bed at home, her heart was still beating as rapidly as when she was dancing with the stranger. Thoughts of him filled her mind; she wondered if he had been who she thought he was.

"Yo."

_She's a mean and crazy dicta, disco diva and you wonder_

"Ikuto!" she exclaimed, whirling around. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting my little strawberry, of course," he smirked as she blushed. "You really should start locking your balcony door."

_Who's that chick? Who's that chick?_

"I'm not a little strawberry!" Amu protested as he walked over to her and hugged her.

"Oh, so you admit that you're mine?"

_Too cold for you to keep her,_

"Ikuto, you perverted cat, let go of me!" Amu complained half-heartedly, barely attempting to escape his embrace.

_Too hot for you to leave her_

"Aw, Amu-koi, why aren't you letting me hug you now? After all, you let me dance with you all night," he smirked.

"So it _was _you!" Amu exclaimed, rather relieved. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you knew, Amu-koi," Ikuto replied, hugging her more tightly. "After all, you let me touch you like that."

"I was dancing!" Amu protested, "When I dance, the music takes over! I had no control over my body!"

_Who's that chick? Who's that chick?_

"Oh," pouted Ikuto. "Does that mean the music made you kiss me during one song?"

Amu blushed again. "I-it was a song I've danced to before, here. I'd made up a little dance to go with it, and -"

"- and you imagined you were dancing with me?" Ikuto smirked.

Amu's blush deepened. "I - I - I - mmmph!"

When Ikuto pulled away from the kiss a few moments later, he said, "You need to practice that part of the choreography more, Amu-koi, so I volunteer to help."

"O-okay," Amu sighed, "how about I meet you at the park tomorrow?"

"Sounds good," Ikuto winked. "How about underneath that tree you sat under earlier when you called my sister?"

"Sure - wait, how do you know where I was sitting?"

"I was napping in the tree and you woke me up. Why else would I be at some teen dance club? That's the same reason why the other guys were there - Kukai, Nagihiko, and Kairi were with the girls when you called them and overheard the plans. You see, it was a conspiracy so we could each get you alone for a bit."

"That is so creepy!" Amu stated; she then added, "However, it's also sweet. I'll see you at the park tomorrow then, my baka neko."

"See ya, Amu-koi," Ikuto smiled at her, released her, and left through the balcony door.

*End*

**Claraowl: Done! **

**Ikuto: I knew you would make us dance! *groans***

**Claraowl: Hey, don't complain! You got to dance with Amu for about four hours!**

**Ikuto: True… and she did call me **_**her**_** baka neko… and didn't complain when I called her Amu-koi….**

**Amu: Don't call me Amu-koi!**

**Miki: You're a bit late on that, Amu.**

**Ran: I had so much fun at the chara party!**

**Su: There was so much good food. **

**Dia: And there were a lot of shiny lights!**

**Ikuto: *ignores all of this and hugs Amu***

**Amu: *attempts to escape, then gives up and allows herself to be put on Ikuto's lap* Please review! You get your choice of an owl award or the grinning bat award!**

**Ikuto: Also, many thanks in advance to those who review! *winks at reviewers* **


	2. The Results

**Claraowl: Greetings! **

**Amu: Why are you back? I thought this was a oneshot!**

**Claraowl: Well, people have requested a second chapter! Therefore, they shall get one!**

**Ikuto: *humming happily***

**Amu: What's he so happy about?**

**Claraowl: *ignores* I own none of this!**

**Amu: Wait, what's he so happy about? Tell me! Hey - wait, what?**

The next morning, Amu awakened slowly to the smell of sizzling pancakes. She rubbed her eyes as she got out of bed, dragging herself over to her dresser. After dressing, she noticed that her charas were still asleep. She heard a faint mumble coming from Miki's egg and put her ear up to it.

"Mm… Yoru, are you sure you want to share your fish? M'kay…."

Amu smiled sadly; Miki missed Yoru.

After awakening fully, she set off down the stairs to enjoy breakfast with her family.

"Onee-chan, I'm sticky!" Ami squealed as she hugged Amu's legs by way of morning greeting.

"Ew, Ami, get off of me," Amu laughed lightly, peeling her off and setting her in her chair.

Halfway through breakfast, Midori inquired, "So, what are your plans for the day, Amu-chan?"

"I was planning on meeting one of my friends in the park," Amu replied, cutting up her pancakes and coating them liberally with syrup.

"What time?"

"Um… actually, I don't know. I forgot to ask."

"Well, you should find out, because your father and I are taking you girls out for a movie tonight. You need to be back here by six."

"Alright," Amu agreed, then smiled. "What movie?"

"It's an older movie, a romantic comedy -"

Suddenly, she was interrupted by Tsumugu. "But don't get any ideas, my little sparrows! You can't fly away from the nest just yet!"

Midori laughed as Amu looked vaguely uncomfortable and Ami upturned the syrup bottle… all over her new dress.

After a (mostly) uneventful breakfast, while Tsumugu went to help Ami find a new dress to wear, Midori and Amu cleaned up.

"So," Midori asked after a few moments, "who are you meeting today?"

"I - I -" Amu stuttered, blushing, "I - er -"

"Ooh!" Midori exclaimed, "Are you meeting a boy?"

"I-Ikuto…" Amu's blush deepened to the shade of an overripe cherry tomato.

Midori grinned at her daughter. "Just don't do anything I wouldn't approve of, alright?"

"Yes, Mama," Amu promised. Just then, her phone went off. "Oh!"

"You'd better get that," Midori smiled. "I can finish up here. Have fun at the park!"

Amu answered her phone as she started out the door on the way to the park. "Hello?"

"Yo."

"Ikuto?" Amu asked, her cheeks heating.

"Aw, I'm not your baka neko anymore?" Ikuto pouted. "So, when are we meeting at the park, Amu-koi?"

"D-don't call me that!" Amu protested. She added, "How about in a few minutes?"

"Are you that anxious to see me, Amu-koi?"

"I can hear your smirk."

"You didn't deny it. See you then, Amu-koi."

"Don't call me -" Amu managed to half-shout before the line went dead. She made her way to the tree in the park, her blush alternately fading and deepening. She reached the tree and sat down, staring into its branches.

"Boo." Ikuto appeared, as usual, out of nothingness.

"Hello."

"Aw, you didn't jump," Ikuto pouted, sitting down next to her and pulling her into his lap.

"Kyaaa! Let go of me, baka neko!" Amu squirmed, blushing fiercely.

"But Amu-koi," Ikuto whined, "you promised to let me help you with that part of the choreography today."

"That doesn't mean I have to sit on your lap!" However, her body language was making her words null and void; she had ceased squirming and settled into a comfortable position.

Ikuto asked, "How exactly does one _hear_ a smirk on the phone?"

"Shut up, Ikuto."

"Make me."

"Make me make you," Amu replied, hoping to create a word game and therefore distract him.

"Alright!" Ikuto said in a happy tone, pulling her in for a kiss.

**~*Meanwhile, on a nearby bench*~**

"Admit it, Rima, you liked dancing with me."

"Shut up and eat your parfait, Nagi," Rima said, turning away from him.

After a few moments of silence, she felt a slight tugging on her hair. "What are you doing, cross-dresser?" She demanded furiously.

"Relax, Rima," Nagi soothed, "I'm just getting some knots out. I finished my parfait a while ago."

"Oh…" Rima was silent once more. She then said, rather roughly, "Thanks."

"For what?"

"Getting the knots out, idiot. What did you think I was going to say?"

"Gee, I don't know," Nagi said, pretending to think. "Maybe for teaching you to dance and putting up with you stepping on my feet about fifty-four times?"

Rima quietly finished her parfait. When she'd finished, she turned around to ask Nagi something and wound up losing her balance.

"Why, hello, Rima!" Nagi exclaimed cheerily to the girl who had her head on his chest. "Fancy meeting you here!"

Rima quickly got off of him and gave him her signature glare, which caused him to beam.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, Rima."

"Tell me!"

"Promise not to hit me, kick me, slap me, or harm me in some other fashion?"

Sighing, Rima promised.

"You're funny when you're angry at me."

Rima stuck her tongue out at him.

Nagi reciprocated by pulling at the sides of his mouth with his fingers.

Rima crossed her eyes.

Nagi stuck out his front teeth and rolled back his eyes.

This continued until they both began to laugh. Soon their laughter echoed throughout the park.

A little while later, after they calmed down, Rima glanced up at Nagi. "Hey, Nagi," she smiled.

"Yes?"

"You've got parfait on your face," Rima said, leaning up to remove it.

**~*And at a ramen stand*~**

"HA!" Utau exclaimed triumphantly, having just beaten Kukai in yet another ramen-eating competition.

Kukai groaned as he slumped over the countertop. "You win, Idol - huh?" His gaze had fallen upon that day's newspaper. "What?"

Utau glanced over, then froze. There, clear as day on the front page, was a picture of the two of them kissing.

"Well, this is going to be interesting."

"What do you mean by that, kid?"

"This is going to cause some sort of scandal, isn't it?"

"I'm not looking forward to explaining it to my manager…."

"Ah, well," Kukai said, throwing an arm over Utau's shoulders as the began walking, "life can't always be simple."

"Since when was life simple, kid?"

"I don't know about you, but I think life's _simply_ great!"

Utau groaned. "Only a kid would tell such a corny joke."

"Three times, Miss Idol." Kukai grinned.

"Oops," she smirked, leaning in for her 'punishment.'

**~*And, finally, at one of those ice cream stands*~**

"..and so, Kairi-kun," Yaya said, wrapping up a rather long-winded story, "Yaya learned to never sit on a metal cow again!"

"Yaya," Kairi blinked, licking his waffle cone, "why were you at a cheese shop, anyway?"

"Because they had chocolate cheese! It was made out of cheese, but it tasted like chocolate!"

"Ah," Kairi nodded, biting into his cone. "Yaya," he asked suddenly, "which do you prefer - chocolate cheese or dancing?"

Yaya giggled slightly as she answered. "Yaya generally prefers chocolate, unless …"

"Unless what?" Kairi prompted, biting into his cone with more than the necessary amount of force.

"Unless Yaya is dancing with Kairi-kun!"

"Kairi," the samurai corrected, blushing, "just Kairi."

Yaya beamed at him and pointed to a couple sitting under a tree a short distance away. "Kairi, isn't that Amu-chi and Ikuto-kun? I think they're kissing!"

"Yes, I believe so… and isn't that Kukai-san and Utau-san over by the ramen shop?" "Yeah, and Rima-tan and Nagihiko-kun over on that bench! I think that love's in the air, Kairi!"

The samurai blushed as El swooped over the two of them, showering them with rose petals, before moving on to the other three couples.

**~*Later, at the movies*~**

"It's about a group of friends who all wind up with a friend," Midori explained as they stood in line for popcorn, "except for the main character, who winds up with the enemy."

"You know," Amu whispered to her charas, "this sounds oddly familiar…."

**~*End*~**

**Claraowl: Welll, what'd you think?**

**Ikuto: *asleep with his head in Amu's lap* Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…**

**Amu: *blushing madly* **

**Nagi: Admit it, Rima.**

**Rima: Never!**

**Utau: *on phone with manager* How was I supposed to know someone would take a picture?**

**Kukai: *on phone with brothers* Yes, that is me with Utau…. NO, she is not up for grabs….**

**Kairi: *observes***

**Yaya: Review, please! **


	3. Movie Time!

**Claraowl: Salutations to all concerned!**

**Amu: *watching movie***

**Ikuto: *watching Amu***

**Claraowl: Anyway, this is going to be a **_**third**_** chapter!**

**Miki: Wasn't this supposed to be a mere oneshot?**

**Claraowl: Yes, but I've decided that I'm going to continue it!**

**Su: Again, ~desu?**

**Claraowl: Yes, again!**

**Amu: *notices Ikuto watching her* W-what are you d-doing?**

**Ikuto: *smirks* Freaking you out.**

**Amu: *glares***

**Ran and Dia: Claraowl owns none of this! Please enjoy!**

When Amu entered the movie theater with her family and charas, she noticed how packed it was. "Mama," she asked, "are we going to be able to find seats?"

Midori bit her lip. "We may have to split up."

Ami chose that moment to announce, "I have to go potty!"

Amu groaned. "Really, Ami? You just said that you didn't have to go!"

"I didn't have to, then!" She pouted. "Now I do!"

Midori sighed, "Alright, Ami, I'll take you."

"No!" Ami insisted. "I want onee-chan to take me!"

After much arguing, Midori consented and allowed Amu to take Ami; Amu handed her mother her soda and popcorn and left her charas to save spots for them.

As they left the theater to locate the bathrooms, Amu grumbled, "If we don't hurry, we'll miss the movie."

Ami squealed that they had to hurry, or it would be too late.

After a few minutes without anything of interest, the sisters returned to the theater. They saw that their parents had found several spots on the end of a row. The two of them hurried into their seats, Amu taking the outermost one. One seat was left on the very end of the row.

**~*Meanwhile, outside the theater*~**

"Tell me again - _why_ did I agree to come to some old, sappy movie?" Ikuto groaned to his sister.

Smirking, Utau replied, "Because my manager wanted someone to chaperone Kukai and me, to make sure that pictures don't wind up in the press anymore, and I promised you some information next time I play truth or Dare with Amu."

Kukai laughed with Utau at the expression on Ikuto's face. "Having second thoughts, Tsukiyomi?"

"Nah," Ikuto said, removing expression from his face. "Let's go find seats."

After many minutes of fruitless searching, the trio decided to split up. Utau and Kukai managed to find two seats next to each other, leaving Ikuto to find one seat for himself. He strolled down the aisle, attracting many glances due to his looks and slight notoriety. Eventually, he spotted a seat on the very end of an aisle, right next to a family… a family which included a pink-haired girl with four charas floating around her head.

He dropped unceremoniously into the seat next to Amu just as the movie began.

Next to Amu, Ami squealed as the lights dimmed. "It's starting, onee-chan!"

Amu shushed her sister and turned her eyes to the screen, oblivious to the man sitting on her other side. Quickly captured by the movie, she became oblivious to everything around her.

Ikuto watched the screen with distaste; the picture had a predictable plot: Girl meets boy. Girl runs off and into trouble. Boy catches girl. Girl winds up with idiotic hero character. _Why did anyone watch this drivel?_

At that moment, his theory of the plot was quickly disproved as the villain character arrived on-screen with a rather loud bang. He heard Amu gasp next to him. Glancing over at her for the fifty-seventh time in about fifteen minutes, he smirked as her face lit up. _At least someone's enjoying the movie._ He reached over and grabbed a piece of her popcorn. She didn't notice. Ikuto rolled his eyes and glanced back up at the screen.

The heroine was talking with the villain character, attempting to get information out of him; the villain was being most uncooperative, asking more questions than he answered. _This seems somehow familiar…._

**~*Across the theater*~**

"Okay," Utau whispered to Kukai, "he's not looking. Let's go get ramen, Soccer Boy."

Winking as they snuck out the back of the theater, he replied, "I'm going to beat you this time, Idol."

"You've got another think coming! I'm going to beat you!"

They ran the rest of the way to the ramen shop, shouting back and forth.

**~*In town*~**

"Yaya, we're late for the movie."

"Oops, sorry, Kairi!" Yaya shouted, immediately grabbing his hand and dragging him to the theater. Soon they managed to get tickets and find seats. Yaya, who had seen the movie ten times previously, caught Kairi up on what they had missed.

Kairi listened to her, absorbed the information, and turned his eyes to the screen, trying and failing to ignore the fact that Yaya was still holding his hand.

Yaya failed to notice his discomfort and was re-watching her favorite movie with rapt attention.

The samurai twitched slightly and attempted to pay attention to the movie - knowing Yaya, she would want to discuss it in detail with him later, exclaiming over its cuteness.

**~*Smack dab in the middle of the theater*~**

"I still don't believe that your mother insisted you watch this as part of your training," Rima hissed, sending her glare to her companion.

Nagi hushed her and pointed to the screen, indicating that she should watch.

Rima refused to be silenced. "Why would it be necessary for you to watch this? Romantic comedies aren't exactly illuminating."

Again, she was hushed and directed towards the screen.

"Even if it's required, why did you have to drag me along?"

"Rima," Nagi whispered, "will you just be quiet and watch the movie?"

"No!" Rima hissed back.

"Rima, you're going to get us kicked out."

"That's the plan, idiot. I don't want to watch this."

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to make you."

"I'd like to see you try - mmph!"

Behind them, a girl whispered to her friend, "Pay up! I told you they'd kiss!"

Her friend scowled and forked over her candy bar.

**~*Back with Amu's charas*~**

"When do you think she'll notice Ikuto?" Ran whispered.

"He keeps eating popcorn, ~desu," Su stated.

"He's trying to get her to notice him," Ran replied.

"She probably won't notice until either the movie is over or he does something perverted," Miki guessed.

"That's likely," Ran agreed.

"He should've gotten his own popcorn, ~desu," Su pouted.

"How long he can stand being ignored?" Miki wondered.

"Well," Ran teased, "Yoru could never wait very long without hugging you, Miki, so Ikuto'll probably crack soon."

Miki blushed.

"He took another piece of her popcorn, ~desu," Su informed them.

"What is it with you and popcorn?" Ran and Miki chorused, then stared at each other. "One, two, three, jinx!"

"You owe me a coke!" Miki grinned.

"The soda machine is out of order, please insert another quarter," Ran shot back.

"The soda machine is back in shop, please give me another pop," Miki replied.

Ran pouted.

"He stole another piece, ~desu."

"ENOUGH WITH THE POPCORN ALREADY!"

"Hey, where's Dia? She hasn't said anything," Miki noted.

They found their sister sitting on Amu's head, staring as raptly as Amu at the screen.

"Shiny~"

The other three charas giggled.

**~*At the ramen shop*~**

"HA! I beat you, Idol!"

Utau groaned and slumped across the counter, much in the same way Kukai had earlier. "Your phone's buzzing, kid."

"Aw, not again!" Kukai exclaimed. "My brothers…. Hello?"

Utau sat up, listening to Kukai's end of the conversation.

"So what if I am? …No way. I refuse. Fine, fine," He groaned, then looked at Utau. "Are you willing to speak to Rento, Unkai, Shusui, and Kaido?"

"Will they promise never to bug the two of us during ramen again?"

"I'll ask." Kukai uncovered the speaking part of his phone. "She wants to know if you won't interrupt ramen competitions anymore…. Okay, I'll tell her." He covered the mouthpiece again. "They say they won't."

"Fine. Let's go sit under that tree and put it on speakerphone."

"Alright." The walked over and switched it.

"Okay, I'm putting you guys on speakerphone."

"What do you want?" Utau asked, before any of the brothers could say anything.

There was a speechless silence on the other end of the line.

**~*With the samurai and the young one*~**

"Yaya," Kairi whispered hoarsely.

"Yes, Kairi?" Yaya asked, tearing her eyes away from the screen.

"Did you want a snack or anything?"

"Yaya would like a candy bar, if you're getting something," she beamed. "Thanks."

Kairi got up and hurried off to the snack counter, still aware of where her hand had been on his.

He ordered a candy bar for Yaya and a slushie for himself at the snack counter. After paying for both of them, he grabbed a couple of straws, returned to the theater, and located Yaya.

"Here," he said, handing her the candy bar and sticking two straws into the drink. "I figured we could share if you got thirsty."

"Thank you, Kairi!" Yaya smiled. "You're always so thoughtful of Yaya."

The samurai blushed.

The movie was about halfway through by that point. Yaya giggled slightly as the heroine began to question how much time she spent with the villain character.

Kairi dipped his head to get a drink of slushie just as Yaya did the same. With their heads tilted to see the screen, neither realized what was going on until they bumped noses. Yaya giggled slightly as Kairi sat up straight rather stiffly and suddenly. After taking a sip, she handed the cup to him. He accidentally took a sip out of the same straw Yaya had used. Yaya saw this, blushed slightly, and looked back up at the screen.

**~*With the two girls who had bet upon the dancer and the funny one*~**

"Look, she's speechless."

"She's as white as a sheet

"She hasn't blinked in three minutes."

"Aw, look, he's getting worried about her."

"I bet they kiss again."

"I bet she slaps him when she comes to."

"You're on!"

"Deal!"

"Oh, he's waving his hand in front of her face."

"She's blinking and gaping like a fish!"

"Pay up! He's kissing her again!"

"No, you pay up! She slapped him!"

"Wait, who wins?"

"I think they do - look!" "Awww, she's holding his hand."

"Hey, look - the movie's over."

"Did you watch it at all?"

"Nah, those two were better entertainment. We can watch the movie next time"

"This happens to us every time: We go see a movie, promise to watch it, and wind up betting on whatever couple sits near us."

"You never did give me that frog."

"What frog?"

"Oh, never mind."

**~*With the cat and the strawberry*~**

"Hey, where'd all my popcorn go?"

She glanced over to Ami, who had her own bucket. She glanced the other way and her jaw dropped.

"Ikuto?"

"Yo."

"You ate all my popcorn!"

"How about I make it up to you - we can come back here some other time and you can eat all of _my_ popcorn."

"Fine," she huffed.

He bid her farewell, kissed her cheek, and went off to the park to look for his sister, whom he had noticed sneaking out.

**~*With the soccer player's brothers*~**

"So this is actually Hoshina Utau?" asked Rento.

"Yes," Utau replied, "as I've said fifteen times in the past few minutes."

After a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, Unkai, the winner, asked, "Are you available?"

"Well," came the rather blunt reply, "seeing as I suck face with your brother - no."

"Would you have been available otherwise?" Shusui asked.

"Nope," she replied, "my manager doesn't want me dating people."

"Then why are you with the brat?" Kaido questioned.

"That's classified, sorry," Utau said with a smirk in her voice.

Suddenly, Kukai whispered, "Idol, here comes your brother. Run!"

The line went dead.

The four brothers stared at each other, then exchanged evil grins. Kukai was _so _going to be forced to tell them everything when he got home….

**~*With the charas of the youngest ones*~**

"I cannot comprehend the attraction of people to that type of movie," Musashi stated.

Pepe, tired from explaining what was going on during the movie, changed the subject. "Don't you think that the two of them make a good couple?" Musashi blinked, then said, "The red string of fate chooses for reasons only it can say."

"You make no sense."

"Observe as the pot calls the kettle black."

Pepe was about to respond, but was diverted by the sight of Yaya leaning over and planting a kiss on Kairi's cheek. "Look, he's blushing."

"Springtime has past, the fancies have long since turned to love, yet the dance continues."

"So you agree that they make a good couple?"

"To fail to deny is as good as to agree."

Pepe pouted and sat on Yaya's shoulder.

**~*With the (somewhat) reluctant lovers*~**

"I still fail to see why it was necessary to take me along," Rima muttered.

"Did you hear those girls betting on us?" Nagi asked cheerfully.

"Be quiet, Nagi."

"So I'm still Nagi, eh, Rima?"

"Yes, So?"

"It just seems a bit empty without an honorific."

"Fine, Nagi-koi."

Momentarily stunned, Nagi stared at Rima.

"You got a problem?" Rima huffed.

Breaking into a wide grin, Nagi replied, "None at all, Rima-koi."

Rima blushed slightly as she gripped his hand. She then turned and glared at the two girls who had followed them out of the theater, still betting. "Scram!"

The girls ran off, giggling.

Nagi grinned again and shouted a thank-you to the girls, who waved back at him.

Rima glared.

Kusukusu laughed.

Temari smiled, happy with the outcome of the movie viewing.

Rhythm grinned, pleased with the trick Nagi had pulled.

The (slightly less) reluctant lovers set off down the street.

**~*Now, to wrap things up with some chocolate-covered strawberries*~**

Amu collapsed, smiling, onto her bed later that night. She'd had a crazy day: She'd been kissed by a certain cat far too many times to count in the park that morning, showered with rose petals by El (Il lagging slightly behind, kicking El every chance she got), gone to the movies with her family, and had all of her popcorn eaten by Ikuto. From the looks of it, this was going to be one crazy vacation.

"Yo." Ikuto walked in and sat down on the end of her bed. "You -"

"I know," Amu smiled, "I really should lock my balcony door."

Ikuto smirked. "Yet, you don't."

Amu pretended to pout. "If I did, my kitty couldn't visit me!"

"So I'm yours, am I?" Ikuto teased, expecting Amu to turn red.

"Yup," Amu said without a trace of a blush. She sat up and looked at him. "What's with the bag?"

Ikuto said, "I really didn't want to have to see that movie again, so I brought a D. V. D. player, some movies, and your favorite snack over here, instead."

"Alright," Amu smiled, picking out - to Ikuto's displeasure - a different romantic comedy.

"Really?" he groaned, getting it set up.

"Mm-hmm," Amu smiled, grabbing a chocolate-covered strawberry and snuggling up against her kitty to watch the movie.

**Claraowl: What do you think? Like? Love? Hate? **

**Ikuto: **_**Her**_** kitty. *smirks***

**Amu: *fighting not to blush***

**Kukai: *arguing with brothers* I can't tell you! It's strictly confidential!**

**Utau: *grins* I kind of feel bad for the guy.**

**Yaya: *humming happily***

**Kairi: And never was there such a happy day, except for the first creation.**

**Nagi: *still beaming***

**Rima: What are you so happy about?**

**Claraowl: *sweatdrops* Review, please!**


	4. The Morning After the Movies

**Claraowl: I'm back! **

**Ikuto: Where were you?**

**Amu: She was reading.**

**Utau: I can't believe that she's writing more of this story….**

**Kukai: Claraowl does not own **_**Shugo Chara!**_

**Rima: What are you so happy about, cross-dresser?**

**Nagi: *smiles wordlessly***

**Kairi: Claraowl would like to thank vongolafan16 for the kutau idea.**

**Claraowl: By the way, there's a slight reference to one of my other SC fics, "Marshmallows and S'mores." Check it out if you want! :D**

**Yaya: Enough with the talking! Yaya wants to start the story!**

**~*With Amu, the next morning*~**

Amu rolled over and felt something large and warm next to her. Snuggling up to it, she twisted her hands into the fabric. She heard a light chuckle and felt some movement; something soft pressed against her forehead. When she opened her eyes a few minutes later, she found herself alone in her bed, clutching a piece of fabric. She blinked a few times.

She was holding Ikuto's shirt.

Blushing slightly, she crawled out of bed and put the shirt in one of her drawers. She'd hide it there until the next time Ikuto came over. Shaking her head and smiling, she got ready for the day. Then a thought hit her - Ikuto had gone home without a shirt.

Her burst of laughter awakened her charas.

"What's so funny, Amu-chan, ~desu?" Su asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Ran popped out of her egg, cheerful as ever. "Good morning, Amu-chan! You seem happy this morning!"

Miki muttered something and shut her egg again, going back to sleep.

Dia smiled, "I think it has something to do with Ikuto."

"How could you tell?" Amu asked.

Dia replied, "You're laughing and blushing at the same time."

Still giggling, Amu explained, "Ikuto left his shirt here. He must've gone home topless!"

The four charas joined Amu in her giggling as they headed downstairs to start another day.

**~*With Utau, in the kitchen of her home*~**

El and Il circled the star's head as she drank her smoothie.

"What are we going to do this morning, Utau-chan?" Il asked, smiling evilly. "Are we going to go whip soccer boy in another ramen competition?"

El pulled out rose petals and showered Utau with them. "Love, love," she sang, "love in the - ouch!" She started to cry; Il had kicked her again.

Utau glanced up at her two charas. "I don't know what we'll do. I guess we'll just see what comes up."

_K-chack._

Utau turned to the kitchen door. Ikuto had entered the house. "Morning," he greeted her.

"Why are you not wearing a shirt?"

Smirking, Ikuto replied, "Because Amu fell asleep on me during the movie and has a death grip."

"So you left your shirt at her place?"

"Yup."

"Either she's going to tell you to come get it, or you're never getting that shirt back," Utau warned him, getting up from the table and rinsing out her glass.

Ikuto laughed. "I know," he said between chuckles. "I hope she keeps it." With that, he departed for his bedroom to change.

A few moments later, Utau's phone buzzed. She answered it, grinning. "Morning, soccer kid."

"Hey, Idol, are you busy this morning?"

"Why?"

"Er…" Kukai hesitated.

"What?"

"Listen…" Kukai's voice dropped slightly. "…my brothers are, well, holding me hostage. They insist upon meeting you. Would you please come over today?"

"Hmm…" Utau said, winking at her charas. "I don't know…."

"Utau, please! I'm begging you!" Kukai groaned, a hint of a whimper in his voice. "I haven't been outside since I got back from ramen yesterday! Please, Utau!"

"We-ll," Utau said, stretching out the word, "alright. It's not like I have anything planned, anyway. Where do you live?"

Kukai gave her the address and they said goodbye.

Utau laughed and called a goodbye to her brother.

Il smirked. "You made him grovel."

Utau grinned back at her chara. "And it was fun."

**~*With Yaya, bouncing around her home*~**

Pepe sat on Yaya's head as she ran around her room, preparing for the night's big event.

"Yaya," Pepe said, "who all is coming again?"

"There will be Yaya, Amu-chi, Rima-tan, and Utau-chi!" Yaya beamed, grinning widely. "It's going to be so much fun!"

Changing the topic, Pepe asked, "Did you enjoy the time with Kairi-kun yesterday?"

"Oh, yes!" Yaya beamed. "Kairi is so considerate of Yaya and so gentlemanly! Kairi is a good samurai! Yaya likes Kairi!"

"Do you like him, or do you _like_ him, Yaya?" Pepe asked, giggling.

"Oh, Pepe-chan," Yaya smiled. "Yaya knows that Pepe-chan already knows the answer to that! Musashi-kun agreed with Pepe-chan, too!"

"He did? He was so cryptic that I couldn't tell."

"Enough about Kairi!" Yaya shouted suddenly. "There are lots of things left to do before the big event! It has to be splendiferous, amazing, and absolutely wowzers!"

"Yaya, calm down!" Pepe soothed. "Everything will go perfectly smoothly. Why don't we take a break and go check the mail?"

"Okay!" She dashed down the stairs and out to the mailbox. Wrenching it open, she exclaimed, "Look, Pepe-chan! A letter for Yaya!"

"There's no return address," Pepe observed.

"Back to Yaya's bedroom immediately! This needs to be opened!"

"Why don't you save it for the big event? That might be a good way to start it!"

"Pepe-chan is so smart! But how is Yaya going to stand the suspense?"

"Why don't we go play with Tsubasa-kun?"

"Okay!" Yaya tore off to find her little brother. "Tsubasa! Yaya is here to play with you!"

"Onee-chan!" Tusbasa smiled, looking up from a learn-to-read book. "Will you read to me?"

"Yaya will read to Tsubasa!" Yaya plopped down, grinning, next to her five-and-a-half year old brother. "Neko-san is in the strawberry fields, picking berries for his friend. Can you find Neko-san?"

"There he is!" Tsubasa pointed out the blue cat.

"Tsubasa is right!" Yaya exclaimed cheerily.

Pepe giggled. Cats and strawberries… she must remember to tell Su about this.

**~*With Rima, sitting in her back yard*~**

Kusukusu sighed. "Why are you doing your homework now? You've got all break!"

"I told you," Rima said calmly, "I'm doing it now so the cross-dresser has no reason to bug me about it."

"He's your boyfriend now; shouldn't you be referring to him as Nagi-koi?" Kusukusu giggled, avoiding the pen Rima flicked at her. She floated off to retrieve it, returning a few moments later. "He's probably going to ask if you want him to look it over, anyway, you know."

"So?"

"Will you let him?"

"Probably," Rima shrugged. "He helps me find the right answers."

"You just want to spend time with your _Nagi-koi_," Kusukusu giggled. She began to sing, "Rima and Nagi, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes lo - mmph!"

Rima, holding Kusukusu in one hand, returned to her homework.

When she finished, she released her chara and sprawled back on the grass. "It's so peaceful today."

"Remember those two girls betting on you and Nagi-kun yesterday at the movies? They spazzed when you held his hand!"

"They also spazzed when I slapped him."

"Guess when they spazzed the most."

"When I got angry with him?"

"Nope! When he kissed you the second time!"

"Shut up, Kusukusu," Rima muttered, brushing her fingers over her lips.

"Ooh," the clown chara said, wide-eyed, "did you like that, Rima?"

"I thought I told you to shut up."

"I'm not one of your slaves, so I don't have to!" Kusukusu laughed. She made a face. "Look, Rima - a funny face! Rima laughed and retaliated, sticking out her tongue and bugging out her eyes.

**~*With Ikuto, in his bedroom*~**

Ikuto plopped into his desk chair and pulled out his phone. He scrolled through his pictures, smiling when he found one Amu had sent him one day last fall. It was an older picture, back when he still had Yoru. In it, Ikuto sat by a campfire, roasting a marshmallow, with Ami on his lap and both his and Amu's charas circling his head. Amu had sent it to him with the caption "A Sweet, Sticky Autumn Memory." He'd teased her mercilessly that night on her balcony about the text, but he was glad she'd sent it. He set it as his cell phone background and stood up.

Walking over to his violin, he tenderly took it out of the case and began to play. He was working on a song, but was having problems once he got past the beginning. He played the part he had, then stopped. What were the right notes? Biting his lip, he set his violin on his bed and sat back down in his desk chair. Without realizing it, he dozed off, an old memory becoming a dream.

_~Dream~_

"Tell me a stowy, Onii-san," Ami begged, crawling into his lap as he sat, roasting marshmallows for himself and Yoru.

"Alright," he agreed. "What do you want to hear?"

"A new one!"

"A new one?" Ikuto thought for a few moments. "Alright, I've got one."

"Tell me, pwease!"

"Once upon a time, there was a strawberry field," he began, glancing at Amu. "And in this strawberry field were the greenest, best strawberry plants in all the land. However, there was a problem: The plants would not produce any strawberries."

"What?" Ami interrupted, aghast. "No stwawbewwies?"

"No strawberries," Ikuto confirmed. "Now, the owners of the strawberry field could not understand this. 'Why,' they asked, 'are our lovely plants not producing any strawberries?'"

"Were the owners sowt of wike the pawents of the fiewd?" Ami interrupted for the second time, wide-eyed and already enthralled by the story.

"Yes," Ikuto said, smiling slightly at the toddler's questions, "the parents of the field wondered why there were no strawberries. They said, 'The birds must be eating the blossoms,' so they set up a giant scarecrow in the field."

"Did it wowk?" Ami asked, her eyes not leaving Ikuto's face.

"They went out in a little while to see if it worked," Ikuto continued, turning his marshmallows. "To their great dismay, it had not. There were still no strawberries in the field."

"No!" Ami gasped.

"Yes," Ikuto said in a hushed whisper. "They asked themselves, 'If the birds are not eating the blossoms, then what is wrong with the plants? We water them well and they get plenty of sunlight. What is going on?' They decided to watch the field and see if anything else could be eating the blossoms. Do you know what they saw that night, when they watched?"

"Fish?" Ami guessed as Ikuto continued to turn his marshmallows over the flame.

"Not fish," Ikuto smiled, "but mice."

"Mice?" Ami asked, her lips forming an O of amazement.

"Mice," Ikuto confirmed. "Twenty mice spread over the field, eating all the strawberry blossoms before they could bloom. After seeing this, they said to each other, 'Mice! We must get a cat!' So they went to a neighbor's farm and got a small, blue-and-black cat. They told the cat, 'If you want to stay, you need to earn your keep. Rid the field of mice so our lovely strawberry plants can produce fruit.' The cat was put in the strawberry field, where he set to work, ridding it of mice. After a few weeks, the parents of the field looked out and saw -" here he paused. "Can you guess what?"

"Stwawbewwies!" Ami exclaimed happily.

"Strawberries," Ikuto said, "strawberries, strawberries, as far as the eye could see! They told the little cat that he had saved their precious strawberry farm, and so earned his keep. And so the cat, the strawberry field, and its parents lived happily ever after. The End." With that, he pulled his marshmallows off of the flame.

"Thank you, onii-san!" Ami exclaimed, hopping off of his lap and running over to Amu.

Amu turned to Ikuto to say something, but was interrupted by a sudden rush of leaves swirling around them, wrapping them in a blanket of leaves.

_Pop_

Ikuto blinked twice. Then, grinning from ear to ear, he hopped out of his chair and ran to grab his violin. He knew what to do with the song.

**~*With Kukai, at his home*~**

_Ding-Dong! _The doorbell rang at the Souma home, causing the five brothers to immediate scuffle for the door. After a quick round of rock-paper-scissors (which was their only form of deciding who got to do what), Kukai, the winner for once in his life, answered the door, looking slightly disheveled. "Hey, Idol. Thanks for coming on such short notice."

"No problem, kid."

"That's one," he told her, holding up one finger.

"One what, kid?"

"That's two. You'd better come in before the press finds you."

"Why does that worry you, kid?" Utau smirked, coming inside the house.

"That's three," Kukai grinned, leaning in.

"I know," she said, tilting her head and closing her eyes, "I can count."

"Hey, runt, what's taking so long?" Kaido growled as he, Shusui, Unkai, and Rento appeared in the doorway. This query was followed by the soft, wet, popping sound made by four jaws dropping simultaneously. Seeing something in a newspaper picture was quite different from seeing it in real life… especially when that something is your little brother sucking face with a famous singer.

Kukai pulled away and introduced each of his brothers to Utau, pointing at each of them. After he had done so, he asked his brothers, "Anyway, now that we're all acquainted, what did you four have planned?"

The four of them looked blank.

Kukai slapped his forehead.

Utau laughed. "You put all that energy into getting me to come over here and didn't even figure out what you'd do when you succeeded?"

Kukai joined in her laughter.

"Well," Shusui said, adjusting his glasses before folding his arms, "why don't we all go into the living room and have a nice chat?"

There were words of agreement, so the six of them made their way to the living room. There was a small scuffle for seating. Three of the brothers wound up squishing together on the couch; Kaido took one of the two armchairs; and Utau took the other one, Kukai seating himself by her feet with good grace.

"So," Kaido began most unceremoniously, "how'd you meet the runt?"

Utau laughed slightly, twining her lower leg with Kukai's arm. "Simple: I was chatting with a friend of ours, he was coming from a movie with another friend, and we ran into each other. Kukai mentioned a ramen competition and we ran off to try it, leaving our two friends to walk home together."

"After that," Kukai added, "we mostly just met for ramen. End of story."

"When was this?" Unkai asked from the couch.

Kukai shrugged casually. "Around my first year of junior high."

"When did you two start - er -" Rento began, attempting to find the right words to use in front of someone like Hoshina Utau.

"- sucking face?" Utau completed. "That's confidential, sorry."

"In fact," Kukai grinned, "anything after the initial ramen is completely confidential."

The four elder Soumas glowered at their younger brother.

**~*With Kairi, shuffling through the contents of his bookshelf*~**

"Kairi," Musashi said, "what are you doing?"

"I'm looking for my old samurai manga."

"Why?"

"Yaya wanted to see what I read a long time ago."

"You've really been ensnared by her, haven't you?"

"I don't know what you mean, Musashi. I am merely allowing her to borrow some of my preferred reading material."

"You have never allowed anyone else to so much as touch those since you decided you wished to be a samurai, Kairi; now you are willingly handing them over to someone who regularly has some sort of sticky substance on her hands."

"Don't be ridiculous, Musashi. Yaya is very clean."

"You are attracted to her, are you not?"

"To fail to deny is as good as to agree."

"As I thought."

"I still do not see why you are lending her your most prized, most well-hidden possessions."

"I am not."

"No?"

"No."

"What, then, is such?"

Kairi put a finger to his lips and walked over to his closet. After moving aside several neatly stacked boxes, he pulled out a small, carefully concealed box. Musashi's eyebrows went up upon seeing the contents. "Ah."

Without a word, Kairi put away the box and re-stacked all the others. He then went over to his bookshelf and pulled out the books Yaya wanted to borrow.

Picking up his phone, he called Yaya. Her phone was answered by Pepe.

"Hi, Kairi-kun. Yaya can't come to the phone right now; she's reading to Tsubasa."

"Will you please give her my message, then?"

"Yup."

"The books she wished to borrow are ready. Would she like me to bring them over or would she like to pick them up?"

"I'll check." After a brief silence, Pepe came back on the line. "Yaya says that she'll swing by your place tomorrow to pick them up. That alright?"

"Yes. I'll be home all day. Goodbye."

"Bye."

After hanging up, Kairi went into a slight frenzy, putting away small amounts of mess that went unnoticed by anyone but himself and Musashi.

"What are you doing?" Musashi asked, wondering why Kairi was tidying up the small imperfections.

"Yaya's going to come over tomorrow."

"She wouldn't have noticed any of this, Kairi."

"I know."

"Will you tell her, then?"

"In a way, she's already been told."

"One was not unsent, was it?"

"That is correct."

**~*With Nagi, just getting out of dance practice*~**

Nagi let out a sigh of relief as he collapsed on the floor of his bedroom, back in his regular clothes.

Temari floated in the air above him, quite happy with the way practice had gone.

Rhythm floated over to the two of them, looking bored. "Done with practice?"

"Yes," the other two chorused.

"What will we be doing for the rest of the day, Nagi?" Rhythm asked. "Going to play any more tricks on our favorite clown?"

Temari smiled. "She's officially your girlfriend now, you know."

Nagi grinned. "I know. That's why I danced so well today. I imagined that I was dancing for her."

Rhythm chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows, "I always thought that you'd dance for her in a different way."

"Rhythm!" Temari scolded.

Nagi laughed as his two charas squabbled.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed. "Hello?"

A high-pitched giggle came from the other end. "This is Kusukusu!"

"What's up?" Nagi asked.

"I just wanted you to know that Rima finished her homework, but needs your help on the math! She's too stubborn to ask for help, so will you come by tomorrow and help her?"

"Sure," Nagi grinned into the phone. "I'll swing by about four."

"Oops, Rima's coming! Bye!"

Nagi heard the click on the other end and hung up. "Well," he said, turning to his charas, "I guess I should probably do the work, so I can help Rima-koi."

"You're grinning like crazy, calling her that," Rhythm observed.

"I'm glad that you two are finally officially together," Temari smiled.

"So am I," Nagi beamed, "so am I."

**Claraowl: Well, that's chapter four! I'll update as soon as I can!**

**Amu: Ikuto left his **_**shirt**_** at my house….**

**Ikuto: *writing down notes of song***

**Utau: Kukai, your brothers are weird.**

**Kukai: Yeah, I know…. *sighs heavily***

**Yaya: I want to open that letter!**

**Kairi: *looking at mysterious, special box***

**Rima: Kusukusu, what did you say to Nagi-koi? Kusukusu… where'd she go?**

**Nagi: *looks up from homework* Review, please! **


	5. The Sleepover

**Claraowl: Hello! I'm sorry this has taken so long! I had my first day of high school August 20****th****, so things have been more than a little insane. Please enjoy! **

**Ikuto: This is long….**

**Amu: That's because it's the last chapter.**

**Everyone: She doesn't own **_**Shugo Chara! **_

**~*With Amu, at Yaya's front door*~**

"Amu-chan, we're late ~desu," Su pouted.

"What if we've missed the fun?" Miki worried.

Dia smiled, trying to soothe her sisters. "Don't worry. You know that you have to be fashionably late for a party. We're probably the first ones here."

Ran chirped cheerily, "Party!"

Amu laughed and rang the doorbell. At once, footsteps came thundering towards the door; moments later, it burst open.

"Amu-chi is the first one here!" Yaya smiled, ushering her friend inside the house. "Welcome to Yaya's sleepover!" She hugged Amu.

"Told you," Dia whispered to her sisters.

"Thanks, Yaya," Amu said. "What've you been doing all day?"

"Yaya got a surprise this morning and has been reading to Tsubasa in order to avoid the temptation of not saving it for all of us!"

Amu blinked. "What?"

Yaya was saved the trouble of repeating that rather long sentence by the doorbell ringing. She dashed off to answer it, revealing a rather grumpy-looking Rima.

"Rima-tan!" Yaya grinned, giving her a big hug. "Welcome!"

Kusukusu was grinning evilly.

"Hello, Yaya, Amu," Rima said. Then looking at Kusukusu, she spat, "Will you stop grinning and tell me what you did?"

"Nope," the little clown chara giggled.

Pepe, who had been sleeping on Yaya's head, awakened and floated over to the other charas. After some careful questioning in hushed voices, they Kusukusu admitted to having called Nagi and invited him over to see Rima the next day.

"Or," she added, "Nagi-_koi_, as Rima now calls him."

The five other charas shrieked simultaneously, "Nagi-_koi_?"

Amu and Yaya, hearing this, turned to Rima. Rima became extremely interested in her fingernails and blushed.

"Nagi-_koi_?" Amu asked, grinning. "You're finally admitting it?"

"Admitting what?" Rima asked, attempting - and failing - to pull off a look of wide-eyed innocence.

Yaya sang, much in the way Kusukusu had earlier that day, "Rima-chi and Nagi-kun, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, and then comes a baby in a baby carriage!" She would have sung it again, but Rima was sending her the infamous death glare, having abandoned the look of innocence.

At that point, the doorbell rang a third time. Yaya opened it and admitted a rather dishelmed-looking Utau.

"Utau-chi, what happened to you?" Yaya asked, giving her friend a hug.

Utau laughed, "Nothing much. I was over a Kukai's house and his brothers started a scuffle when I called soccer kid a kid three times."

"So they got upset when you kissed him?" Amu grinned.

"Yup. They couldn't seem to fathom the idea that even though I was with someone, it couldn't be any but the youngest of them."

"I bet they loved that," Rima smiled.

"They didn't love it as much as they loved the fact that _everything _after the first ramen competition was completely confidential!" Utau laughed.

"Is that when the scuffle broke out?" Yaya asked.

"Yup, because I called him 'kid' a third time."

The four friends laughed.

Utau then continued, "After the scuffle broke out, Kukai and I managed to slip out of the house. They didn't notice until we were halfway to the ramen shop!"

After the laughter died down, Amu smiled evilly. "Rima has some news too, don't you, Rima?"

"I do not," Rima said stubbornly, blushing.

"Aw, Rima-tan, come on!" Yaya pouted, half-grinning. "Tell Utau-chi about your Nagi-_koi_!"

"Don't call him that," Rima ordered sharply.

"Oh, we won't," Amu grinned, "but you will!"

"And she does!" Kusukusu piped up, grinning from midair. El and Il had been caught up to the recent trouble Kusukusu had caused for Rima (though she was, as of yet, unaware of the fact that her Nagi-koi was coming to visit her the next day), with predictable results. Il grinned fiendishly, chuckling and patting the clown on the back; El flew in circles around Rima's head, singing love songs.

"So," Rima said, turning to Amu and desperately trying to change the subject, "how're things with Ikuto, Amu?"

Amu blushed deeply, saying, "Quite alright, thank you."

Utau smirked, "Especially since the cat in question came home topless."

This announcement was followed by the soft, wet, popping sound created by two jaws dropping simultaneously.

"What were you two doing?" Rima asked, recovering first.

"N-nothing!" Amu stuttered, looking to her charas for help, only to find that they had all vanished. "Where'd they go?"

Utau shrugged. "Probably off to some chara party, but don't change the subject. What were you two doing?"

Blushing, Amu spat, "He sat next to my family at the movies yesterday and ate all my popcorn, so he brought over a movie and a snack to make up for it!"

"Then why did he go home shirtless?" Rima asked, raising one eyebrow.

"I - I don't know! I just remember falling asleep during the closing credits…."

"I believe that Ikuto's explanation was, 'Amu fell asleep on me during the movie and has a death grip.' What say you, Amu?" Utau laughed.

"We didn't do anything wrong! He was gone when I woke up!"

Yaya giggled. "But, Amu-chi, he would have had to stay the night with you to come home shirtless in the morning."

Amu shrugged, attempting to hide her blush. "So?"

The three other girls blinked, staring at the strawberry-haired girl.

"He's stayed over _before_?" Utau shrieked.

"Er - y-yeah…." Amu answered, quaking.

"Oooh, when was the first time, Amu-chi?" Yaya squealed, giggling.

"It - it doesn't matter…."

"Actually, Amu, it really does matter," Rima stated calmly, patting Yaya's head to calm her down.

Yaya smiled, having calmed down slightly. "Yes, tell us, Amu-chi!"

"Um…" Amu's face deepened to the shade of an overripe tomato. "B-back wh-when we w-were all still fighting Easter… a bit before the tower incident…."

"WHAT?" Utau and Yaya screamed.

Rima patted the two girls on the head as she asked Amu, "Why have we never heard about this before?"

Amu, regaining control of herself, replied relatively calmly, "You never asked."

"You were in elementary school, Amu-chi!" Yaya exclaimed. Then her eyes grew wide as she remembered something. "OH! Yaya has something to show all of you! Come on!" She threw Rima's hand off of her head and led them at a run up to her bedroom.

"What's up, Yaya?" Utau asked, blinking as they entered her room.

Yaya picked up the unopened envelope and showed it to them. "It came for Yaya in the mail today."

"There's no return address!" Amu exclaimed.

Rima rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"Why haven't you opened it yet, Yaya?" Amu asked, ignoring Rima.

"Pepe-chan thought it would be a good start to the party, so Yaya wanted you guys to be here!"

"Open it," Utau prompted, "you may have a secret admirer."

"A not-so-secret _samurai_ admirer," Amu whispered to Rima, winking. Rima winked back, grinning.

Yaya carefully opened the envelope, so as not to rip it - rather, to build the suspense. Finally, she shook the piece of paper out into her hand.

"Is that parchment?" Utau asked.

"Yaya thinks so."

"Read it, Yaya!" Amu prompted.

Before Yaya could start, Rima pointed to something on Yaya's lap. "What's that? It fell out of the envelope."

The four girls' eyes widened as Yaya picked up the object and they all got a clear look at it.

Cut, dried, and pressed, was a poppy.

Yaya grabbed the letter and read it quickly.

"_Dear Yaya,_

"_Although I have called you that several times by this point, I have never addressed you as such in ink. However, I am well aware that that is what you wish to be called, as you have informed me several times, so I do not think you will get upset as being addressed thusly on parchment._

"_What am I doing, talking of names? I am rambling. I apologize; you seem to have that affect on me. _

"_I suppose that you are now wondering at least one of several things: Who is this? Why was there a poppy? Why is the letter written on parchment? _

"_However, if you are not wondering - indeed, if you are not even the one reading this - then I am merely wasting your time. If you are not Yaya, I highly suggest that you put this letter down and back away. Unless, of course, I am long dead and this was discovered in the back of my closet. _

"_Either way, I am still wasting precious moments. _

"_My true point for taking quill to parchment was to inform you of a particular fact, Yaya. While I admit that I have not known you any particularly long amount of time, nor have I been on the right side for a great deal of that, I am throwing all caution to the wind and informing you of something extremely crucial. _

"_Of course, if you never read this letter, then I suppose that I did not work up enough nerve to send it, or have been long dead._

"_I know that I had never truly spent much time with you until that day. You see, Yaya, that this is where the poppy comes into play. Do you recall the elder guardians' ceremony? _

"_As I thought. I suppose that, by now, you have figured out my identity._

_I suppose that that was the day it started, truly began, though that was more than a year ago. The beginning of everything._

"_The truth is, Yaya, that I love you._

"_All of my soul,_

_Kairi"_

Yaya's eyes were wide. This letter had been written at the end of their last year of elementary school. Had Kairi been unable to send this until now? Or had it been lost in the mail? She grabbed the envelope and checked the date. It had been sent two days previously. She was speechless.

The other three girls were blinking at each other. They'd never expected this… while they'd known that Kairi liked Yaya, it had never occurred to them that could have loved her for so long. None of the three said anything until after Yaya stood up, grabbed her cell phone, and left the room.

"I-I guess that we shouldn't have heard her read that…" Amu whispered.

Rima stated, "That wasn't your run-of-the-mill love letter."

Utau laughed. "Well, their romance isn't exactly run-of-the-mill, either."

They laughed and talked for a few more minutes, until Yaya re-entered the room, grinning widely.

"Yaya is still going over to Kairi's house tomorrow, but Yaya no longer has to borrow _The Encyclopedia of Samurais_."

"Why were you going to borrow it, anyway?" Rima asked, leaning forward to put the letter and poppy back in the envelope.

"To spend more time with Kairi, of course!" Yaya giggled, taking the envelope and putting it on her desk.

"Oh, Yaya," Amu said, laughing, "I'm sure that Kairi wouldn't have minded just spending time with you, either way!"

And there was much laughter.

**~*With Ikuto and his friend*~**

"Come on, Ikuto, tell me who this girl is!" Inu said, brandishing a photo of Amu.

"Give it back," Ikuto hissed, trying to grab the photo that had fallen out of his wallet.

"Tell me who she is, first," the other male said, keeping the photo out of Ikuto's reach.

Ikuto responded by tackling his friend and snatching the photo out of his hand. Getting up and dusting himself and the picture off, he slid the piece of paper back into his wallet.

"Yeesh, man," Inu said, standing up, "calm down. It's just a picture of a girl."

Ikuto glared at him and asked, "Why'd you come over again, anyway?"

"I need a girl. I've been so lonely… for so long…" Inu whimpered.

"You went out with someone last week, Inu. Get a grip."

"That's not the point! I need your help!"

"What can I do to help you get a girl? I don't go out with different people every night!" Ikuto rolled his eyes. Inu could be a pain.

"So that little strawberry is your girlfriend?"

"Don't call her that."

"Right," Inu grinned, "only you are allowed to call her that, right?" Putting on a fake voice, he crooned, "Oh, my little strawberry, you're so good - um, why are you glaring at me?"

"You wanted help with something?" Ikuto asked coldly.

"Oh, yeah," Inu said, nodding, "do you know any girls I could get? Someone from your fan club, maybe?"

Ikuto laughed sarcastically. "Sure, I'll just call someone up right now and tell them over the squealing that they should go out with you."

"Yeah, why not?"

"Maybe the fact that I don't want to _ever _come in contact with any of them ever again after that time they saw me in the park one day, waiting for Amu?"

"So her name's Amu, eh?" Inu grinned.

Ikuto hissed and slapped his forehead. "Here, take this." He scribbled something down on a sheet of paper and handed it to Inu.

"What's this? 'I am Ikuto Tsukiyomi's friend'?"

"Something that will almost guarantee that you will be surrounded by my fan girls the instant you step into a park."

"You know, Tsukiyomi," Inu teased, "I think I'd rather have the little strawberry - kidding, kidding!" He added hastily as a bad aura surrounded Ikuto. Slapping him on the back, he said, "Thanks for the help. I'd better go - looks like I'll have a busy evening."

After Inu had left, Ikuto muttered, "Inu just doesn't know when to stop." He headed up to his room.

Pulling out his violin, he closed his eyes and began to play. He'd almost finished his new song; he only had a few notes at the end to write. The music danced throughout his room, surrounding him. Words flew through his mind, each a part of his song.

_Memories_

_Whispers_

_Wind_

_Heart_

_Autumn_

_Fire_

_Trust_

_Spade_

_Taste_

_Absorb_

_Sunset_

_Clover _

_Leaves_

_Capture_

_Embrace_

_Diamond_

_Teasing_

_Midnight_

_Visits_

_Fortune_

_Strength_

_Fight_

_Fireworks_

_Devil_

_Belief_

_Acceptance_

_Wish_

_Angel_

_Questions_

_Growth_

_Reach_

_Child_

_Create_

_Try_

_Succeed_

_Make_

_Fallen_

_Picked_

_Maze_

_Up_

_Adorable_

_Warm_

_Kitten_

_My_

_Little_

_Strawberry_

_Love_

Ikuto smiled as he added the last set of notes to the song.

_Amu_

Pulling out the sheet of music, he wrote down the ending and began to practice. The next time he went over to visit his little strawberry, he'd play this, his masterpiece… "Amu."

**~*With Nagi and his charas*~**

"Hey, Nagi, are you done yet?" Rhythm complained, floating in the air over a math textbook.

"Rhythm, be patient," chastised Temari. "Nagi's working hard to finish this today so he can help out his Rima-koi tomorrow."

"She's treating him like one of her old slaves, already," Rhythm pouted, fiddling with his headphones.

"Rima didn't ask him over; Kusukusu merely suggested that Nagi could help Rima if he wanted to do so."

"The fact remains that he's helping her."

"He's her boyfriend. He wants to spend time with her; also, you notice that he's smiling while he's working. When was the last time that happened?"

"Um…" Rhythm scratched his head. "Come to think of it… that one time when the teacher assigned the two of them to be partners on a project. But that doesn't count! Rima kept telling jokes!"

"Which goes to show that she can be herself with him," Temari smiled.

Rhythm pouted. "I still don't see why he has to help her at all."

"He doesn't have to, Rhythm, he just wants to," Temari sighed, shaking her head. Her brother could have such a thick head!

"Why are you shaking your head?"

"Never mind."

"Why are you shaking your head?"

"Go shoot some baskets or something, Rhythm."

"But why are you shaking your head?"

"Don't you have something to do?"

"Why are you shaking your head?"

Temari got an evil glint in her eye. "Chin…tan…"

"Okay, bye!" Rhythm yelled, sensing danger and speeding out of the window.

A few moments later, Nagi shut his books and stretched. "Done!"

"Congrats, Nagi," Temari smiled.

"Thanks," he replied. "Where'd Rhythm go?"

"We were talking about Rima, he acted thick-headed, I started counting, and he left."

Nagi grinned. "Well, I'm going out to shoot some baskets. Want to come with me?"

Temari shrugged. "Sure."

When they got outside, they found Rhythm sleeping on the rim of the hoop. Unfortunately, they didn't find him until after Nagi had thrown the basket towards the hoop.

"Are you okay, Rhythm?" Nagi asked, picking up his chara. Temari sat down on Nagi's wrist and poked her brother's cheek.

"Wake up," she sang.

Rhythm blinked a few times, then sat up. "I had a weird dream. I was sitting up on top of a basketball hoop, when this huge basketball came and hit me on the head. Now my head hurts."

"That's probably because you were up on the hoop, and a basketball did hit you."

"Oh," Rhythm said, rubbing his head. "Hey, are you still shooting baskets?"

"Yup."

"Character change!"

"So, Nagi," Temari said, sitting on his shoulder; are you looking forward to helping Rima with her math tomorrow?"

"Yeah," he grinned, "with or without the math. Rima's funny."

Rhythm made a small gagging sound.

Temari giggled. "Rhythm, you get to see Kusukusu tomorrow."

"So?" Rhythm asked, trying to hide his grin, which had suddenly become quite large.

"So you can't talk."

"Oh, shut up."

Nagi laughed at his two bickering charas as he shot another basket.

**~*With Kairi*~**

"-iri. Kairi," Musashi said, hovering over Kairi's nose. "Stop daydreaming. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

"Ah!" Kairi exclaimed, sitting up. "My apologies, Musashi. What were you saying?"

"I was merely asking what Yaya wanted on the phone."

Kairi was silent; his cheeks became colored.

"I see; the one that was not left unsent reached her?"

"Yes."

"Will you give her the rest tomorrow, when she arrives?"

"Yes."

"Kairi… you must remember that you are a samurai. Samurais must keep their self-discipline high; they must be trustworthy, honest, loyal, and have much courage. You must remember that, as a samurai, you need to set an example. You must remember this."

"I will, Musashi."

"The code of the samurai is applicable to your daily life. Along with the ordinary samurai code, you must remember that you set a second code for yourself: You must be a kind samurai."

"I promise."

"Good. Will you give her the letters in the box itself, or will you take them out before giving them to her?"

"I will take them out before giving them to her. As you know, there is another thing in that box that she cannot see…."

"…yet." Musashi completed. "Your Great-Grandmother's wedding ring is in there."

Kairi's cheeks were dusted lightly with color once more as he smiled. "Do you truly think that it will be 'yet,' Musashi?"

"To fail to deny is as good as to agree."

"Thank you, Musashi."

"Remember, Kairi: a samurai must always follow the correct path, and never question it when he begins."

"I shall remember that, Musashi."

"In the event that you should forget, you only need read _The Encyclopedia of Samurais_, which, I take, Yaya will no longer be borrowing. Will she still be reading the manga?"

"She mentioned something about reading it together."

Musashi smiled. Kairi was finding his correct path. He may be returning to the samurai's heart sooner than he thought.

**~*With Kukai*~**

"My, Kukai, what an awful lot of texts you have from Utau-san."

"Guys… give…me...back…my…phone!" Kukai demanded, repeatedly lunging for the small, electronic device.

"Oh, look - this one's signed with a 'XOXO'!"

"No way!"

"Give it back!"

"Runt, relax. You'll get your phone back when we're done."

"Don't you ever delete your texts?"

"Give… it… back!"

"Nope."

Suddenly, just as Kukai made another lunge for it and finally got it, phone went off.

"Hello?"

All of his brothers stared at him.

"A phone test?"

The four elder brothers snickered. Whoever was calling was going to make him say something stupid.

"My broth. Ers are. Pry ingid. Iots. All of it?"

There were some nondescript noises from the other end.

"My brothers are prying idiots."

There was a loud burst of laughter from the other end of the line before it went dead.

Kukai checked the caller I.D. and laughed; he quickly stopped laughing when he turned around and saw the faces of his four brothers. He spun on his heel and hightailed to the park.

"Utau is a pretty neat girl, I'll give you that, Kukai," Daichi said. "I mean, she could have had you say something that would've embarrassed you, but she had you insult your brothers at a really good moment instead."

Kukai grinned. "It's eerie how good her timing is."

"Yeah, but at least she's got timing."

"True; it'd be kind of awkward if she didn't."

Daichi snickered. "Yeah, can you imagine if she'd called before they started looking through your phone?"

"Or if she'd called before I got it back? I wonder what she would've had them say."

"Maybe she would've had them call you a kid or something."

Kukai laughed as he sat down on the swings in the park.

"Hey, Kukai, isn't this where -?"

"Where I talked with Utau and kissed her? Yeah."

"Her face was priceless."

"She's still no good at taking pictures of herself."

The two of them snickered.

**~*Back with the four girls*~**

"Good one, Utau!" Amu laughed, high-fiving her friend. "I wish we could've seen his brothers' faces!"

The other three girls laughed loudly, Rima very much so. Amu flipped open her phone and took a video.

When Rima finished laughing, she noticed that Amu was grinning rather evilly. "What did you do?"

"Tell me, Rima," Amu smiled, "has Nagi ever seen you laugh that heartily?"

"No, why?"

Amu continued to smile as Rima's phone played a classical Japanese dancing tune. Rima flipped her phone open to see a text from Nagi. A dark aura surrounded her.

"AMU!"

"Rima, calm down! I didn't send him the part where you snorted!"

"Calm down," Utau said, patting Rima on the head.

Yaya giggled, "Let's get back to the game!"

"Okay, Amu," Utau said, "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth!"

After a brief consultation with the other two girls, Utau asked, "Besides a swimsuit, what is the least amount of clothing that Ikuto has ever seen you wear?"

Amu blushed. "A bath towel and a hair towel."

"WHAT?"

"It's not what you think! It was the evening of the day that Su hatched and he'd come to make up for shattering my tart! He gave me some snacks, bit me on the ear, and left."

"Where were you?"

"On my balcony," Amu shrugged. "He surprised me. I nearly spit milk in his face."

Yaya giggled.

"Okay, Yaya, Truth or Dare?"

"DARE ME!"

Rima whispered to Utau, "How much sugar has she had?"

"Way too much."

There was a brief conference; Amu then said, "Text Kairi, saying, 'I LIKE CHEESE!'"

"Yaya will do so! Yaya does like cheese!"

A few moments later, Kairi replied that if she wished, he could have some out when she visited the next day.

"Kairi's such a gentleman," Utau said.

"Utau-chi! Truth or Dare?"

"Truth, I guess."

"How often do you dream about Kukai-kun?"

Utau blushed slightly. "Frequently."

"Ooooh, Utau-chi's in looooove!"

"Rima! Truth or Dare?"

"Tell a series of jokes!"

"_Shear_-ly you don't want me to do that. I know you're all rather _sheep_ish when it comes to my jokes. Don't _ewe_ worry - I'll stop soon. I know that these are _baa_-d. I know you _shudder_ to think of my switching to window jokes. I know that they're such a _pane_. But you _see right through_ me, don't you? I know it's _curtains_ for these jokes!"

The three other girls groaned.

Amu then grinned, "Those were _baa-_d, Rima, I agree."

Everyone groaned.

"Alright, Amu, Truth or Dare?" Rima asked.

"Dare."

"Hop around the room once, saying, 'Ima tote alnu tcase.'"

"Alright," Amu said, getting up. "I'm a total nutcase. I'm a total nutcase. I'm a total nutcase. I'm a total nutcase." When she sat down, she asked Rima, "Why do you have you phone out?"

"You send embarrassing videos. I send embarrassing videos."

"Rima! Laughter is not embarrassing!"

"Revenge is sweet," Rima smiled. "Your little cat now knows that you're a total nutcase."

"Oh," Amu said, her face clearing. "You sent it to Ikuto? I thought you sent it to someone else." She laughed. "Ikuto knows I'm a total nutcase. He'll tease me a little, but that's about it."

"Oh, really?"

"Yaya, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare again, Amu-chi!"

"Do the first thing that comes to mind when you hear these words: Alert the media!"

Yaya jumped up, ran to her window, opened it, and screamed, "THE POTATO SALAD IS ON THE LOOSE! HIDE THE CHAIN SNAKES, OR THEY'LL BE MADE EXTINCT!" She then sat down, giggling, to the laughter of her friends.

"Yaya…" Amu choked out between bursts of laughter, "…that…was the most… absurd thing… I've ever… seen!"

"Utau-chi! Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"Pretend to be eaten by this blanket!" Yaya said, throwing the blanket over Utau's head."

"Noooooo!" Utau screamed, thrashing. "Help! I'm being devoured! Vile blanket, thou shall meet thy end! Yah!" With one final kick, she flung the blanket off of her and onto the bed.

"Rima, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"Okay…" Utau said, looking around the room. "Pretend that Yaya's pet ferret is Nagi and kiss him!"

Rima's face flared a violent shade of red. She went over, picked up the exceedingly squirmy ferret, and planted a kiss on his nose. The ferret instantly relaxed and curled up around Rima's shoulders like a furry necklace.

"Aw, Rima-chi, he likes you!" Yaya cooed.

"Why are you so red?" Amu asked.

"None of your business," Rima replied stiffly. "Truth or Dare, Amu?"

"Truth."

Rima held a quick conference with Utau and Yaya.

"What would you do if Ikuto called you up at three in the morning because he couldn't sleep and wanted you to sing him a lullaby?"

"Two questions before I answer."

"Shoot."

"Why wouldn't he get Utau to sing? I sound like a dying whale."

"I'd punch him, that's why," Utau said.

"Why would he call me? He usually just turns up on my balcony."

"He's too tired to move, but he wants you to sing him to sleep."

"I guess I'd sing at him."

"'At'?"

"I told you, I sound like a dying whale."

"You do not."

Amu rolled her eyes. "Truth or Dare, Utau?"

"Dare."

"Call Kukai on speakerphone and ask him to sing to you."

"Alright, but what if one of his brothers answer?"

"Coo at them about how you can't wait to see them all."

"Dialing."

"Yo, Idol," Kukai's voice answered. "What's up at 1 A.M.?"

"Kukai, I can't sleep. Will you sing to me?" Utau pouted into the phone.

"Utau, you know I can't."

"But, Kukai, you were so cute at karaoke."

"Utau, this honestly is not a good time."

"But, Kukai-koi~," Utau whimpered into the phone.

"Utau, I -"

Utau whispered, "Please? For me?"

"Alright, alright, hold on." There were some running sounds at the other end of the line. "Okay," he panted, "what song?"

"Twinkle, Twinkle."

Kukai sighed, then began to sing. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are! When the blazing sun is gone, when he nothing shines upon. Then you show your little light, twinkle, twinkle, all the night. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are! Then the traveler in the dark thanks you for your little spark; he could not see which way to go, if you did not twinkle so. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!"

"Thanks, Kukai," Utau said sweetly.

"Better?"

"Much. Love you."

"Love you too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Utau hung up the phone, made eye contact with Amu, and burst into laughter. The friends all laughed hysterically.

"Yaya, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth, Utau-chi."

"What would you do if Kairi kissed you?"

"Kiss him back, of course!" Yaya exclaimed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Utau-chi just wasted a question. Rima-tan, your turn. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Why did your face turn red when you kissed Yaya's ferret?"

Rima curled up into a ball.

"What's wrong, Rima?" Amu asked.

"Rima-tan's a roly-poly!" Yaya screamed.

Utau poked Rima's side. "Just tell us."

"I had a dream where Nagi-koi and I were ferrets, okay?"

There was a grand "Ooooh!" from the three girls surrounding her.

"Amu, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Who would you trust the most with your life?"

Amu responded, without missing a beat, "Ikuto."

**~*Later, after Yaya, Rima, and Amu have all fallen asleep*~**

Utau texted her brother, "I have those answers for you. She'd sing to you, trust you with her life, and doesn't find it the least bit strange for you to stay overnight with her. You don't need to worry." She hit send with a smile on her face. She knew who was going to be her sister-in-law in a few years.

**~*END*~**

**Claraowl: Well, there you go! The end! I hope you liked it!**

**All four couples: Please review!**

**Charas: Pretty please?**

**Claraowl: Feel free to ask any questions you have and/or to point out errors! Thank you! :D**

**Amu: By the way, we'd all like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed! It's made this total nutcase *motions to Claraowl* insanely happy!**

**Claraowl: Oh, yes - the first one to figure out the pattern in Ikuto's song gets a grinning bat and gets to pick which of the four couples my next story is about!**


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